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AC Condenser busted, parts question

J

JoshRountree

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Boone, NC
Someone backed into me about 6 months ago and ran off. I thought my AC condenser (in front of radiator, first thing behind grill, right?), was ok, but time has proven otherwise. It's been leaking oil fairly steady for a little while now.

My question is, should I try and get a used one, or buy a new one? I've checked a couple of websites, and advanced has one for $246, and autozone has one for $170 and another for $200. I also need an accumulator too, so I'm going to buy that from wherever I get the condenser.

Any thoughts as to how I should procede? Another option is to just take it to somone and have them replace the whole thing since I'm going to have to have the AC system discharged/recharged anways, $50 discharge, $50 recharge btw.

And, I guess I shouldn't be running the AC right now huh? The loss of oil might break the compressor?

Thanks
 
Pardon this as my first response ( just got my XJ and need to make a real "introductory" thread for myself) I would certainly say either get a completely new (read non rebuilt/remanufactured) or a plain used part. I have not had good luck with any reworked part. Also are you sure it is oil leaking? Or by oil did you mean the refrigerant? You mentioned the condenser was hit in the hit and run, was the compressor damaged as well?? I don't see how oil is leaking form the condenser.... If there is a leak I would not the AC just to be on the safe side. - Chris aka "speedy"
 
ac systems have oil running through the system, so the oil you are seeing is most likely from the condensor taking a crap from the impact. new is best, but you could get by with one of the other options, just be prepared to repeat the process if the reman part fails later. cheapest is not always best, nor is most expensive (sorry, i know that's no help) you just gotta pull the trigger (i'd go new) and hope for the best. and definitely don't run the ac with the hole in the condensor, you are low on lube and will very likely be buying a new compresson as well, presuming you have a compressor that depends on the system lube instead of early models that had an oil reservoir outside the compressor.
 
Speedy21cvb said:
Pardon this as my first response ( just got my XJ and need to make a real "introductory" thread for myself) I would certainly say either get a completely new (read non rebuilt/remanufactured) or a plain used part. I have not had good luck with any reworked part. Also are you sure it is oil leaking? Or by oil did you mean the refrigerant? You mentioned the condenser was hit in the hit and run, was the compressor damaged as well?? I don't see how oil is leaking form the condenser.... If there is a leak I would not the AC just to be on the safe side. - Chris aka "speedy"
Click to expand...

The person was backing out and backed into it, it crunched the grill and pushed it back into the ac condenser on the bottom left (if you are facing the car). It's a slow leak, and I guess it's a combination of refrigerant/oil.
 
If your a/c has leaked out enough freon/oil that you can see a leak on the condensor, good chance its probably empty by now. A/c compressor will not operate without a charge. low pressure switch makes sure of that. It won't matter if the a/c switch is on, it won't work anyhow.
 
A condenser has no moving parts, I don't see why a junkyard replacement wouldn't work well. Keep in mind, AC is very sensitive to contamination in the slightest, so its possible a junkyard condenser may be more likely to have dirt or gunk in it. As well, inspect it closely, not only for leaks, but corrosion that might make it open up holes and the fittings, nicked edges can create AC leaks.

There is a table of approximately how much oil will settle in each component of the AC system, so when you replace that particular component you'll know how much oil has to be replaced that was removed with the part.

If you haven't run the AC system, since the leak started, then just what oil was in the condenser will need to be replaced. If you have been running the AC system, the oil circulated and the leak likely removed more oil than just what settles in the condenser. You should add a little extra oil over whats called for just a condenser.

As well, replacing the condenser requires opening up the system, anytime you do that you need to replace the filter/drier for the system.
 
bfred said:
If your a/c has leaked out enough freon/oil that you can see a leak on the condensor, good chance its probably empty by now. A/c compressor will not operate without a charge. low pressure switch makes sure of that. It won't matter if the a/c switch is on, it won't work anyhow.
Click to expand...

Since this happened about 6 months ago I have been monitoring it, but hadn't noticed any leak up until a couple of weeks ago.

At any rate I turned on the AC last week and it was ice cold, so I'm guessing it's a pretty small leak. The only thing that was odd, was the ac would only blow out the front vents when coasting or going down hill, any time I was accelerating hard, or going up a hill, it would only come out the defrost vents. Must be a fluid level.
 
bfred said:
Sounds like you also have a vacuum leak running to the diafram that controls the vent doors
Click to expand...


.....argh, Thanks!

Man, I wish I had more time to work on this thing. Looks like I'm going to start entertaining the idea of selling it.
 
You didn't give any info on year/model, so it makes "web diagnosis" difficult. Many(all?) XJs have a vacuum reserve bottle located some where in the grill-area, on the passenger side. It's a small plastic ball that stores vacuum so that when you accelerate, there is sufficient reserve vacuum to operate the various flapper doors used by the A/C and heating system. On my '88, a vacuum line runs from the intake manifold, accross the firewall, forward along the passenger-side wheel well, behind the battery, through the front metal work, to a check valve and then connects to the "ball". Another line runs from the "ball" back to the fire wall, supplying vacuum to the "climate control" systems. Your "ball", or one of the lines connected to it have a crack or a split--not uncommon on older XJs (and other vehicles). The ball could very well have been crushed by the same accident that cracked your A/C condenser. And are you sure the oil you see is refrigerant oil? It's not uncommon for a small leak arround a fitting to occur, leaving an oily collection of dirt, that over time will discharge the A/C system, but a crack in the condenser would most likely discharge the system quite rapidly. Is it possible you're seeing an oil leak from your tranny oil cooler connection to the radiator?
 
xjbubba said:
You didn't give any info on year/model, so it makes "web diagnosis" difficult. Many(all?) XJs have a vacuum reserve bottle located some where in the grill-area, on the passenger side. It's a small plastic ball that stores vacuum so that when you accelerate, there is sufficient reserve vacuum to operate the various flapper doors used by the A/C and heating system. On my '88, a vacuum line runs from the intake manifold, accross the firewall, forward along the passenger-side wheel well, behind the battery, through the front metal work, to a check valve and then connects to the "ball". Another line runs from the "ball" back to the fire wall, supplying vacuum to the "climate control" systems. Your "ball", or one of the lines connected to it have a crack or a split--not uncommon on older XJs (and other vehicles). The ball could very well have been crushed by the same accident that cracked your A/C condenser. And are you sure the oil you see is refrigerant oil? It's not uncommon for a small leak arround a fitting to occur, leaving an oily collection of dirt, that over time will discharge the A/C system, but a crack in the condenser would most likely discharge the system quite rapidly. Is it possible you're seeing an oil leak from your tranny oil cooler connection to the radiator?
Click to expand...

Woops, guess I should have said my specs: 1998 Sport 4dr I6 4wd NP231.

I'm almost positive it's my condenser, it's in front of the radiator right? If so it got hit on the lower left corner as you are facing it. It got pushed in, so much that there are little pieces of the grill stuck in there, and some paint got removed.
 
If your A/C still works, turn it on and spray soapy water in the area you think is leaking. Bubbles will confirm it.
Did you check your vacuum reservoir to see if it took a hit as well?
 
Yeah, if it switches to vents during hard acceleration it probably means the hose going to your vacuum canister isn't connected....

The canister provides vacuum under hard acceleration when there is a lack of vacuum pressure.

No vacuum = the vents default to defrost mode and the heater valve (if equipped) opens.

On another note, do you have insurance covering you in the event you have damage to your vehicle that isn't your fault but the people run off?

Like complete coverage?

If so, let them handle it.
 
xjbubba said:
If your A/C still works, turn it on and spray soapy water in the area you think is leaking. Bubbles will confirm it.
Did you check your vacuum reservoir to see if it took a hit as well?
Click to expand...

I know it's leaking, I can see fluid on it, and fluid all on the bottom of the front lip.



Blaine B. said:
Yeah, if it switches to vents during hard acceleration it probably means the hose going to your vacuum canister isn't connected....

The canister provides vacuum under hard acceleration when there is a lack of vacuum pressure.

No vacuum = the vents default to defrost mode and the heater valve (if equipped) opens.

On another note, do you have insurance covering you in the event you have damage to your vehicle that isn't your fault but the people run off?

Like complete coverage?

If so, let them handle it.
Click to expand...

Vacuum reservoir, k, I'll check that. And, I do have full coverage on the Jeep, but didn't know that at the time. I didn't think to ask my dad, I just always assumed I only had liability. It happened back in November so I don't think insurance would even take the claim now, plus the Jeep's only worth about $3,000 and might not even make the deductible.
 
Grandparents rearended somebody in January. They didn't get anything fixed......went on a 3,500 mile trip without any problems. They got back......

Well one thing about fibreglass bumpers is that they conceal actual damage.

Their entire metal bumper (beneath the fibreglass bumper) was pushed back into the condenser and radiator.

So, they got it fixed.

It was all about maybe $2,000.00 or so....

It was on a 2005 Mercury Montego.

Nothing was leaking but, maybe it would have later.

I'm guessing it would be cheaper for your Jeep.

Worth looking into about the insurance though.

My grandparents just got it fixed in late April all of the way from early January when the accident occured.

If you did have full coverage back then just explain it to your insurance company, how it didn't leak then so you weren't worried but it is leaking now. Also tell them you are dreadfully worried about the effects of this leak and the dearly environment! Maybe not....:)

Even if you didn't have full coverage then, you do now....maybe they will help you out. You don't know until you ask!
 
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